This invention relates generally to computed tomography (CT) imaging and more particularly to an apparatus and method for computing volumetric perfusion from temporal reconstructions of tissue attenuation characteristics using digital area detector technology.
In at least one known “third generation” CT system, projection data is continually acquired within a limited axial coverage of a patient to adequately measure the uptake and washout of a contrast medium in an organ being imaged. Additionally, as many as sixteen slices of projection data to be acquired, reconstructed, and processed simultaneously for perfusion evaluation can be accomplished using current multi-row detectors. The scanning speed of a known CT system is adequate for sampling of the contrast dynamics of the tissue within a small volume of an organ; however, the scanning speed is inadequate for sampling the contrast dynamics for a whole organ being imaged, such as a brain since helical scanning protocols are necessary.